It Doesn't Have To Snow On Christmas Day
by UnderAGlassMoon
Summary: Christmas Oneshot. Asuka decides to organise a Christmas party, dragging a reluctant Shinji along. Cheesy, WAFF'y and cliched, everything you'd want from an Eva Christmas story!


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. I also don't own any of the copyright brand names I may have happened to use.

* * *

24th of December 2015. Christmas Eve. Sweltering temperatures going right up to about 30 degrees Celsius. There was no respite in sight from the heat. Still, that did little to dampen the festive spirit in the people of Tokyo-3. People were out and about, doing their last minute Christmas shopping, firstly because they desperately needed the presents and secondly, an angel attack could destroy those shops at any time so people were taking action to keep festive. 

Asuka was lying on her front on the floor of Misato's living room, reading a magazine. Shinji was cooking in the kitchen. Misato was recovering from a major hangover. It was all the usual in the Katsuragi household. No words were usually exchanged between Shinji and Asuka and despite living together; they could hardly call themselves friends.

However, the festive season worked wonders on people. It was even making Asuka want to speak to Shinji. "You know, I wish I was in Germany for Christmas. That way I could have seen the snow," Asuka said with a sigh. Shinji was rather caught off guard by the redhead speaking and blinked in surprise before even thinking of answering. "Oh, yeah. Christmas," Shinji said with a sigh of his own. "I've never seen snow before."

Nor had he seen a happy Christmas. When he had first suggested it when living with his teacher, he was told that Christmas was a load of commercialised nonsense. Sure, there was probably a lot of truth in that statement but things like Christmas meant a lot to a five year old with a deceased mother and a father who abandoned him. Shinji had never really celebrated Christmas since because he never had anyone to celebrate it with.

"Never seen snow?" Asuka asked curiously. "It's because Japan only really has summer now, right?"

"Yeah. It's either hot or stormy. Not a chance of snow," Shinji said.

"I guess we'll have to live with that. Either way, we're celebrating Christmas," Asuka declared as she stood up.

"We're what?" Shinji asked in surprise.

Asuka blinked in disbelief, "What are you, an idiot?! I said we're going to celebrate Christmas!"

"Uh…okay," Shinji said, still in a state of slight shock.

"Well? What are you just sitting there for? We have to go Christmas shopping! Get a tree, decorations, food and _presents_ !" Asuka said. "Come on! Let's go!"

"But…I don't have any money," Shinji pointed out.

"Money's all taken care of! I have Misato's credit card and I know her PIN number!" Asuka said proudly.

"What?! Asuka, you know that isn't right!" Shinji protested.

"Don't be such a wimp, Third Child! And besides, she'll appreciate what we'll do to the place!" Asuka reasoned.

"Okay…I'll go but I still don't feel right about using Misato's credit card," Shinji said.

"Whatever. Let's go!" Asuka said.

* * *

The two walked on through the streets and on their way down to the shops, they bumped into the class rep. "Hey Hikari!" Asuka called out. 

"Oh, hello Asuka. Hello Shinji," Hikari said with a smile.

"Hello Hikari," Shinji greeted quietly.

"What brings you out today?" Asuka inquired.

"Just some grocery shopping," Hikari replied.

"Not the _other_ kind of shopping specific to this time of year?" Asuka continued.

"Christmas shopping? Well, my sisters and I aren't really celebrating it this year," Hikari admitted.

"What?! Not celebrating Christmas?! You can't have that!" Asuka exclaimed. "In that case, you're invited to our Christmas party over at Misato's! Trust me, you won't regret it!"

"What Christmas party?" Shinji asked in confusion.

"Shut up!" Asuka snapped toward the boy.

Hikari considered Asuka's offer before saying, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to go."

"That's the spirit! See you tomorrow night then!" Asuka said.

"Okay! Bye you two!"

Asuka was smug after inviting the first guest to the Christmas party that she had suddenly decided to have. Shinji was wondering how Misato would take it all because she didn't even know that they had decided to celebrate Christmas, never mind have a party at her house. Shinji felt rather anxious that this would all go pear shaped before even kicking off. Asuka was always the polar opposite in her absolute self-confidence and self-righteousness.

Asuka began the female shopping ritual of window shopping whilst Shinji stood with his hands in his pockets, whistling a tune. He wondered how Asuka could delve so deeply into products behind glass. Asuka wondered how Shinji could just stand there and not get involved.

Shinji then saw both Toji and Kensuke walking down the street across from him and he waved them over. If Asuka intended to invite her friends to the so called Christmas party, then Shinji would get in on the act as well. "If it isn't Shinji himself!" Toji said as he joined his friend. "How's the Christmas Eve going for ya?"

"It's okay. We're just doing some shopping," Shinji replied.

"We? Who are you with?" Kensuke inquired whilst looking around.

"I'm with..."

Shinji turned around to see that his German shopping companion had disappeared. "With who?" Kensuke continued.

"I was with Asuka," Shinji replied. "She's disappeared off somewhere though."

"The devil? Jeez, stooping to new lows there, Shinji," Toji said with a shake of his head.

"I'm just shopping with her!" Shinji cried in protest.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," Toji chuckled. "Anyway, who am I to judge your choice of woman, eh?"

"It's not like that!" Shinji protested further.

"Whatever," Toji continued. "Have you bought her a present yet?"

"A what?" Shinji said, caught off guard by Toji's question.

"You know, a present? Gifts of the festive season, stuff like that?" Toji explained facetiously.

"Uh, no, I haven't," Shinji replied.

"Well, good thing you're out shopping then!" Kensuke exclaimed. "You better hurry though, because everyone else in the city is doing last minute shopping now!"

"And don't forget about us! We're expecting presents as well!" Toji said.

"Uh, sure," Shinji said. "By the way, how would you two like to come to a Christmas party?"

"At Misato's??!! Sure thing!!" the two cried in unison.

"Uh, okay…I'll see you two tomorrow then?" Shinji said.

"Will do my man!" Toji said.

"See you tomorrow Shinji!" Kensuke added.

As soon as the two went off, Rei appeared out of a shop, holding a bag full of Christmas decorations. "Oh, hello Rei," Shinji greeted.

"Greetings, Ikari," Rei replied with what appeared to be the beginnings of a smile on her face.

"Shopping?" Shinji inquired.

"I have done research on the celebration of Christmas and decided that it would be logical for me to decorate my home accordingly," Rei replied.

"Oh, okay," Shinji said. "Well, I was just wondering whether you would like to come to a Christmas party over at Misato's."

"A Christmas…party?" Rei said with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah, a party. It'll be fun," Shinji said.

"Very well. I shall see you tomorrow then, Shinji," Rei said before heading away.

Shinji had presents to buy now. Sure, it was easy for Toji and Kensuke. Toji would get a new basketball top and Kensuke would get the latest war movie or game. Misato would obviously get booze of some description and Rei…well, Rei was a tough one because he had no idea what she liked or didn't like. For Hikari, he would probably buy the latest gourmet cookbook for her. Then, there was Asuka.

Asuka's present seemed like the hardest out of all of them. Shinji knew what Asuka liked and disliked but he wanted her present to be special. He had no idea why because he received piles of abuse from the girl but then again, she had her moments. Shinji went on the search for presents while considering what to buy Asuka.

Shinji bought a basketball top for Toji, Halo 5 for Kensuke's Xbox 720, a gourmet cookbook from a chef Shinji had never heard of for Hikari, a 75cl bottle of Jack Daniels for Misato (he was strictly underage but being an Eva pilot had its privileges) and he settled on a bestseller novel for Rei. However, his present for Asuka was proving more and more difficult to decide on.

Shinji walked about different stores and fell into the scourge of window shopping. He didn't like having to do it but needs must, especially with more and more people piling into Tokyo-3's busy city centre. Suddenly, Shinji was pulled away from his searching by a phone call.

"Where are you _dummkopf_?!" said a very irate Asuka.

"Uh, I'm outside…" Shinji looked up at the nearest shop. "I'm outside McDonald's."

"Why the hell are you there?! I thought I told you to wait for me! I've got tonnes of stuff I need for you to carry!" Asuka cried. Shinji had to pull his ear away from his phone for a moment to save his hearing from permanent damage. "Well, where are you?" Shinji asked.

"I'm at the door of that massive department store, you know? Opposite the cinema," Asuka answered.

"Okay, sure, I'll be there in a bit. I just have something I need to take care of," Shinji said.

He heard an annoyed sigh down the other end of the line, "Fine. Just hurry up, okay?"

"All right. By the way, I've invited Toji, Kensuke and Rei to the party as well," Shinji said.

"Okay, cool. Like I said, just hurry up."

Shinji hung up and quickened his pace in his quest for a gift for Asuka. It seemed like nothing he looked at would do. Then, he saw something inside a jewellery shop that immediately caught his eye. It was a gold necklace with a large ruby as its pendant. It was the perfect present. Then, Shinji was hit by reality. _There's no way I can afford that! _Shinji cried in his head. Despite the hefty price tag, Shinji went inside the shop undeterred.

It was an incredibly upscale jewellery store. Shinji received many dirty looks upon his entry from several snobbish women who were probably collectively rich enough to buy everything in the store. Shinji felt incredibly out of place in the shop and immediately felt like leaving. However, the shop owner appeared and looked at Shinji's face strongly.

"My, aren't you the pilot of the purple Evangelimathingy?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Shinji replied nervously.

"Wonderful! You, jolly lad, were the pilot that saved this store from absolute destruction from one of those blasted angels!" the shopkeeper exclaimed.

"I did?" Shinji asked. He didn't remember saving a jewellery store. "Which angel was it?"

"It was…um…let's see…it was the big and ugly one!" the shopkeeper said.

Shinji sweat dropped, "They're all big and ugly."

"Rather," the shopkeeper agreed. "Anyhow, you have my utmost gratitude! I shall repay you by allowing you to have anything in the store, free of charge!"

"Free?!" Shinji exclaimed.

"FREE?!" several pompous upper class woman in the store cried while their bourgeois husbands looked on indifferently.

"Yes, my good man, anything, free of charge. It's the very least I can do," the shopkeeper said.

"Well, if that's the case," Shinji said, "how about that necklace in the shop window, the one with the ruby."

The shopkeeper sweat dropped, "Uh, I'm not so sure about that one, I'm afraid."

"Hey," Shinji said, "you did say anything, right?"

* * *

Asuka felt growing impatience as she stood outside the doors of the department store. She checked her watch and huffed in annoyance. _Shinji, where the hell are you? What an idiot, _Asuka thought as she had been waiting for nearly ten minutes now. Asuka had purchased all manner of decorations, wrapping paper, a Christmas tree, piles of food and drink along with all the presents she had bought for friends and enemies (in the case of Toji and Kensuke) alike. She checked that her bag of presents was fairly well concealed. She didn't want anyone or anything to know what she had bought as presents. Especially what she had bought for Shinji. 

Asuka had taken liberties with Misato's credit card to buy a 100GB iPod for Shinji. She knew that he often just sat and listened to music so an updated music player would be the best thing for him. _It's not like I put a lot of thought or anything into it, _Asuka told herself in her mind. _It just seemed liked the most logical thing to buy Shinji. Yeah, that's it. It doesn't even matter that it was the most expensive present out of all the ones I had bought. It's just a music player. No thought put in whatsoever_.

However, it was fairly obvious to Asuka that she was kidding herself quite extensively. She had put a lot of thought, not to mention a lot of Misato's money into Shinji's present. However, she was anxious about giving Shinji it. What if she gave Shinji the iPod, only to receive a paperback book in return? It would be seen as an overt show of affection which Asuka didn't want anyone to know about. Despite her worries, there was no going back as she had already bought the iPod and would have to give it to Shinji because she had no use for it.

"Hey Asuka," Shinji greeted. "Sorry I took so long."

"You better be!" Asuka cried. "Here, take this bag, and this bag, and this bag, and this bag…"

Before he knew it, Shinji was inundated by shopping bags and struggled to keep his balance. "You're like the mule from the Nativity story," Asuka noted wryly.

"Very funny," Shinji said, the strain apparent in his voice. He struggled with whilst carrying twice his body weight whilst Asuka only had one bag to carry. And obviously, she had picked to carry the bag that had all the gifts she had bought for the guests of the Christmas party.

They made it back to Misato's flat and Shinji felt incredibly relieved to drop the shopping backs and to have been freed from all the weight. Then, he darted off to his room to stash his presents. Unbeknownst to him, Asuka was doing exactly the same thing with her presents. They both emerged from their rooms at the same time and looked at each other with a perplexed look on each of their faces. Then, Asuka said, "I think we should set all the decorations up."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Shinji agreed.

"We could get Misato to help as well," Asuka added.

"I think she's gone to work," Shinji pointed out.

Asuka's face went pale. "Damn! I've still got her credit card! She's gonna freak when she finds out she doesn't have it!" the German exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it. The worst case scenario is that she calls the police and they track her credit card uses to you," Shinji pointed out.

"You're pushing your luck, Third Child," said a ticked off Asuka. Shinji chuckled as he began work unpacking the decorations.

As they began, there was an unexpected ring came from the doorbell. Shinji and Asuka looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces before Shinji went up to answer the door and found it to be none other than Rei Ayanami. "Greetings Ikari," she said. "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

"Uh, no, you're not. We're just putting up decorations," Shinji said.

"I see. Well, I was wondering if you would mind me joining you in your putting up of decorations," Rei requested.

It wasn't an unreasonable resquest and they could probably use the help. However, this was Rei and Rei never asked to do anything. She always waited for people to tell her to do anything. Whatever the case may have been, Shinji shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure, you can come and join us." This was the festive season after all and maybe it could even have made Rei merrier.

Asuka was grateful for the extra help, even it was Wondergirl. "What brings you here then?" Asuka asked once they were well into setting up.

"I wanted to experience Christmas as I heard the celebration of it can be agreeable," Rei answered.

"Fair enough," Asuka said. You couldn't really argue with that. "I had originally intended to celebrate Hanukah earlier on this month," Rei added, "but I could not find anybody that celebrated it."

Asuka sweat dropped before saying, "Uh, that's because it's a Jewish celebration."

"Christmas is a Christian occasion, is it not?" Rei inquired.

"It's become more universal than that, now," Asuka answered. "I think you would be struggling to find anybody who celebrated Hanukah here in Japan."

"Very well," Rei said. "What about Diwali?"

"No, still struggling," Asuka said.

"Is New Years acceptable?" Rei inquired.

"Yes, New Years is fine," Asuka answered.

After about an hour, they had finished everything bar one small but significant detail. "Now all we need to do," Asuka declared, "is to put the star up on the tree. And since I decided to have this party, I think I should do it."

"Excuse me," Rei said.

"Yes?" Asuka asked.

"Would you mind if I did it? It is something I have never done before," Rei said.

"You do it?" Asuka asked. "Well, this was all my idea so I'm not so sure."

"It is all right if I cannot. It is just something I'd like to do," Rei said.

"Well, what the hell. I've done this plenty of times before. Wondergirl, you do it," Asuka said.

And in that moment, Shinji saw the festive season begin to lurk into Asuka's veins as well. Rei went up onto her tiptoes to stick the star at the top of the tree. And with that done, their Christmas preparations were complete.

* * *

Misato came home late that night after attending to an urgent matter. _I can't believe I lost that credit card! I got the best interest rate on that one! Oh well, I've cancelled it so that nobody can get their dirty mitts on my money! _Misato thought as she walked along the hall toward her flat. She noticed the Christmas wreath on the door and smiled, thinking that the kids were getting into the festive spirit. However, she was totally unaware of what she would see once she entered her home. 

She opened the door and flicked the light switch on to find that her entire flat had been completely decorated with a tree complete with lights and baubles as the centrepiece of her living room. "Wow," Misato said. "Those kids really have gone all out on this one." She looked around and was amazed by how thorough and thought out all the decorations had been. Misato then went to her kitchen for a beer when she noticed a note on the table, along with her credit card she thought she had lost.

'Dear Misato.

I kind of took liberties with your credit card but it was all for a good cause!

The idiot, Wondergirl and I got the place all decorated for you with the money.

Hope you don't mind.

Asuka.

PS: I also organised a Christmas party here tomorrow.

Hope you don't mind about his as well!'

Misato was immediately pissed off. "That little brat," she muttered, "taking my credit card and organising a party without even telling me!" However, when Misato turned around to face the living room, she couldn't help but smile. It was the festive season after all. She couldn't stay mad and decided that it was all for a good cause. Misato then made a note to invite Kaji and Ritsuko and maybe even the bridge bunnies over as well.

* * *

Rei came over the next day to help Shinji and Asuka prepare the massive feast for the night's festivities. Misato was strictly barred from going anywhere near food, knowing that she would turn it into some god-awful concoction with the potency of rat poison. Instead of cooking, Misato decided to prepare some eggnog. 

Being Misato, she was mixing it with brandy. However, it was getting the balance right that was the problem. Misato had two glasses in front of her. One had eggnog in it. The other had a measure of brandy. She scrutinised both glasses before pouring all the eggnog down the drain and pouring the brandy into the glass that had been emptied of eggnog. "There, that should do it," she said smugly.

Shinji and Asuka both witnessed this and the both of them sweat dropped. Even Rei sweat dropped.

Soon, Rei was tasked to prepare the eggnog _without _brandy. However, Misato surreptitiously ordered Rei to put brandy in the eggnog before being tasked to twiddle her thumbs and stay out of the way. Once Misato was out of the way, everybody was happy and things would get done in the kitchen. However, Misato quickly got bored of twiddling her thumbs and decided to make a few phone calls.

"Hey Kaji, it's me Misato…I'm fine, you…sure, sure. How would you like to come over tonight? …No, not for that! The kids are here…you want to do what with your what?! …As appealing as that sounds, it's for a Christmas party…Huh? I'm invited to a party in your pants?! Kaji, calm down, will you! Asuka and Shinji organised it, okay? …Yeah, that's right, a Christmas party, like I said…so you'll come? …Great, I'll see you at seven tonight? Okay? …Bye."

After dealing with Kaji, Misato called up Ritsuko. "Hey Ritsuko, it's Misato…how are you? …Me? I'm fine thanks. Listen, how would you like to come to a Christmas party over at my place? …Huh? Your cats? What about your cats? …Well, take them with you; I've got a penguin they can hang with! …When? Seven o'clock. Yeah, that's fine…okay, see you then. Bye"

Misato also made three other phone calls to the bridge bunnies and all three of them agreed to come. With that done, Misato went to the kitchen to see how everything was coming along.

The smell of the turkey in the oven was incredibly inviting and Misato felt like devouring it all there and then. All the side dishes were ready and the eggnog was ready as well. "Mince pie?" Shinji asked, offering the mince pie in his hand.

"Oh, thank you Shinji," Misato said with a smile. She took the pie and began to eat it while looking over everything else that the kids had prepared. "Guys, this looks amazing," Misato complimented.

"Thanks," said Rei, Asuka and Shinji in unison.

"We are officially ready to party!" Misato declared.

* * *

At seven o'clock, the guests began to flow in and mince pies were offered to get things started. Greetings and 'Merry Christmas's' were exchanged all over and there was a real lively atmosphere once all the guests had arrived. Well, once all the guests that were assumed to be coming had arrived. There was another ring at the door and Misato wondered who it could have been since everybody that was meant to be there was. 

She opened the door and sweat-dropped when she saw both commanders of NERV. It was the first time she had seen either of them out of uniform. "Uh, hello commander," Misato said uneasily.

"Call me Ikari…Gendo, Ikari," the commander of NERV said.

"Uh, okay," said a freaked out Misato.

"Excuse him," Fuyutsuki whispered. "I think he's a bit drunk."

"Ah," Misato said.

"I heard that you were hosting a Christmas party, Major," Gendo said. "And I wondered if you would mind our presence."

"Um, no, not at all, sir," Misato said.

"Call me Gendo, Major. We're not at work here," Gendo said.

"But you're calling me Major," Misato pointed out.

"Just remember he's drunk," Fuyutsuki reminded.

The entrance of the commanders caused a momentary silence in the flat. All eyes were on them. "What?" Gendo asked. "I do have trousers on, right?"

"Yes Ikari, you do," Fuyutsuki answered. The silence was quickly dissipated and the party went on. First off, they ate the feast that was prepared earlier that day. Then, Misato unleashed the eggnog and forgot to tell everybody that it had brandy in it.

All the kids had consumed a glass of eggnog each and wondered what the funny taste was. Rei knew it was brandy and once she informed the kids, they were in a state of shock. "You put brandy in the eggnog?!" Asuka cried.

"Misato told me to," Rei pointed out.

"Dear god, I've had like five glasses already!" Gendo Ikari cried. The kids all sweat dropped and promptly turned and walked away from the commander.

Soon, it was time to exchange gifts and Misato was first to receive. "I'm in heaven!" she cried at all the booze she had received and some of the drinks she received included sake, vodka, whisky, scotch bourbon and off course, the ever timeless six pack of beer.

Gifts were exchanged all round and even Gendo had gifts to give. "Here you go, Shinji," he said, handing over his gift.

"Uh, thanks father," Shinji said. He got to work unwrapped it and found it to be a book. He sweat dropped when he read the title. "'Piloting Eva for Dummies'. Gee, dad, just what I always wanted," Shinji said sarcastically.

"I'm glad you like it, Shinji," Gendo said before drinking some whiskey straight out of the bottle.

By eleven thirty all gifts had been exchanged bar two. Those were the gifts that Shinji and Asuka were left to give each other. Shinji suggested that they go out onto the balcony to exchange gifts and Asuka readily agreed.

It was warm outside and both Shinji and Asuka held presents roughly the same size. They were both boxed and wrapped so there could be no clues as to what they were. "So, this is it I guess," Asuka said. "We get to see what we got each other."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed with an uneasy laugh. "Who will open first?"

Asuka managed to summon enough strength to say, "You open yours first, Shinji." She handed her gift to the boy and he went straight to work unwrapping it. "An iPod? Jeez, Asuka, this must have cost a bomb!" Shinji exclaimed.

"Do you…like it?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah! It's great! 100GB as well! I can get right of my old crappy SDAT player!" Shinji said. He even went forward to hug Asuka which caught the girl off guard. Whilst they were hugging, she was glad that Shinji couldn't see her blush because that would have been a tad embarrassing.

"So, what have you gotten for me?" Asuka inquired.

"Oh yeah," Shinji said. He handed over his gift to the girl very nervously. Much to his dismay, he saw his hands were visibly shaking. Thankfully, Asuka didn't seem to mind as she took the present. She held it and slowly began to unwrap it. Shinji couldn't bear the tension. It was all too much for him to bear.

Asuka got past all the paper and held in her hands a black box. She then went about opening the box, slowly as well, just to add to Shinji's torment. "Oh my god!" Asuka cried as she laid eyes on the necklace. "This is…this is incredible Shinji!"

"It's nothing, really," Shinji said.

"Nothing?! Shinji, this must have cost absolutely loads!" Asuka cried.

"Not as much as you mean to me," Shinji said, before slapping his hand over his mouth, He hadn't meant to say that but it had come out anyway.

"Do you…really mean that Shinji?" Asuka asked.

"I…yeah, I mean, I…I do mean…uh, wait, I mean-"

Shinji was cut off by Asuka lunging forward and planting her lips onto his. Shinji was taken aback immediately but found himself melting into this kiss. Then he felt her tongue enter his mouth and from that moment on, Shinji was totally absorbed by the kiss.

Inside, Toji, Kensuke, Hikari and Rei were witnessing this and the two boys were in a state of absolute shock. Toji and Kensuke were lost for words. "That is strange," Rei noted.

"Strange? How is it strange?" Hikari asked in confusion.

Rei then summoned a smile on her face before replying, "There is no mistletoe."

* * *

**Author's Note:** I just _had_ to do a Christmas Eva story for the lulz. 

Merry Christmas for 2007 and a happy new year!


End file.
